Taco Bell Begins Quietly Testing Burritos Stuffed with Fries

"Taco Bell is better than Del Taco but Del Taco has french fries so it’s a real Sophie’s Choice of fast food,” Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 declared in late October on Twitter. A harsh judgment, to be sure. Taco Bell chirped back with a rather cryptic retort: “That just might change soon, [sic] mark.”

What a tease! Would Taco Bell start serving fries? For the duration of November, your guess was as good as mine.

We're pleased to report that the chain didn’t renege on its promise to Hoppus. As a Taco Bell representative confirmed to MUNCHIES on Monday, Taco Bell began semi-surreptitiously testing Loaded Fries Burritos in certain locations in Charleston, West Virginia, and it plans to do so until late December. Their new artery-clogging, cylindrical, surely delicious menu item is padded with ground beef, nacho cheese, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, and fries, and is priced at $1.99 a pop.

The burritos are being tested in select locations until late December, and come in three varieties: California (seasoned beef, fries, nacho cheese sauce, guacamole, sour cream and tomatoes), Supreme (seasoned beef, fries, nacho cheese sauce, sour cream and tomatoes), and Chipotle (seasoned beef, fries, nacho cheese sauce, creamy chipotle sauce, sour cream, and tomatoes).

Call such an invention a gastronomic freak show if you’d like, but the California Loaded Fries Burrito is something of a reimagining of a garden variety Cali burrito, the gastronomic jewel of San Diego. Taco Bell is certainly no stranger to beta-testing fries—recall the "Seasoned Fries," "Loaded Fries Supreme," "Nacho Fries," "Nacho Fries Supreme”—but these items have yet to stick and occupy a position of permanence on the menu.

It's nice to know Taco Bell hasn't given up on fries just yet. As a great man once sang, "surprises let me know she cares."